


I Can Do It

by I May Age Regress (shnuffeluv)



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Miscommunication, Referenced Non-Sexual Age Play, Stress Relief
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-24
Updated: 2019-02-24
Packaged: 2019-11-04 23:08:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17907449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shnuffeluv/pseuds/I%20May%20Age%20Regress
Summary: Tony wants to relax, and Steve wants to help him. Too bad Tony doesn't want the help this time around.





	I Can Do It

Tony was feeling dead on his feet. He had just spent the entire day in the lab, answering calls, and attending meetings in between his tinkering. He couldn't be more relieved that the day was coming to an end. He stumbled to the communal floor of the Avenger's Tower, gravitating towards the coffee pot. He saw Steve walk in from the corner of his eye, and he grunted a greeting.

"Hey, Tony," Steve said. "I was just about to make dinner, do you want anything?"

"I'm fine with just the coffee, I've got food upstairs," Tony said, taking a long drink from the primary source of his coherency at the moment.

"Okay," Steve said. "If you need anything, just let me know, all right? I want to help if I can."

"Yeah, yeah," Tony said, not really listening. "Good talking to you, Rogers."

He was stopped from leaving the kitchen with a hand on his shoulder, and he felt his irritation spike. "You sure you're okay, Tony? You don't look good."

"I'm  _fine_ , Rogers!" Tony insisted.

Steve looked confused when Tony raised his voice, and just a little hurt. "Okay. I was just wondering. After all, sometimes when you have a long day, you just want to unwind..."

"And I'll do that. Alone. As an  _adult,_ " Tony insisted. "I can handle myself, Steve! You don't have to mother-hen me left and right!"

Steve backed away and nodded. "All right. You know where to find me if you need me," he said.

Tony scoffed as he left the room. He went to his floor and practically collapsed on the couch, pulling up Netflix in hopes of something to watch. Truth be told, he did want to be little. Just maybe not immediately, and not tonight. Tomorrow morning, maybe, when his schedule was free. Maybe he could have been nicer to Steve, but he had a long day. He just wanted to get rid of anything he couldn't bare to hear right now. And Steve's concern voice was very different from his normal voice. It made it hard for Tony to listen to anything without being driven up the wall.

He put Netflix on and wandered to the kitchen, opening his refrigerator. He had a couple slices of pizza left, but not much else. It would have to do, he supposed, as he started to eat. He got back to the couch, and watched the movie he had on. Soon enough, he was dozing on the couch. He probably would have fallen asleep completely, too, were it not for the knock on his door.

Tony grumbled and stumbled towards it, opening it to find Steve on the other side. "What do you want, Rogers?" Tony sighed.

"I didn't do anything wrong, did I?" Steve asked.

Tony narrowed his eyes. "Explain, please."

"It's just, well, when you regress usually, it's after a rough day like the one you had today. I was assuming that you would want to unwind, and I guess I didn't think you might want to find a different way to relax tonight. I wanted to make sure I wasn't too pushy. You can do whatever you like to relax, if it's not hurting you. Sometimes I just forget that...well, that most people have more than one thing they do to relax nowadays. Couldn't afford more than one coping mechanism when I was a kid," Steve said with a slight laugh at the end. "And my door's always open, I just want to make sure I'm not forcing you into anything."

"Rogers..." Tony groaned. "I'm exhausted. What I want to do more than anything else right now is sleep, maybe watch some TV to numb my mind enough to relax. I was planning on regressing tomorrow, when I can afford to spend the energy on it without passing out. You're more than welcome to help then. I know you want to make sure everyone on the team is taken care of. And we are. Right now is just not the time for me to regress. You'll probably pick up on when I'm too tired and when I'm not tired enough with time. Just...give it that time, and don't worry about if what you're doing is wrong. You're fine. Okay?"

"Okay," Steve said, letting out a breath and smiling. "Thanks, Tony."

"Any time," Tony said. "If you want, you can come in and watch something with me. Tomorrow morning I'll be all yours. Think you can wait to dote on me until then?"

"I think I can manage," Steve said with a grin. "What are you watching?"


End file.
